ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) is developing an infection control manual to protect the patients from contracting diseases. “A twelve-member committee is preparing a practical infection control manual for the hospital, which will also act as a guideline for other hospitals in the public sector,” Prof Anwarul Haq, head of Pathology Department, told Dawn here on Monday.

He, however, admitted that the hospital lacked a proper infection control manual though WHO guidelines in this regard were in vogue in different departments.

Earlier, after coming from the United States, Dr Anwarul Haq joined Agha Khan Medical University Hospital, where he introduced this concept and is now trying to introduce it in the Pims, which he joined in 1996.

The committee comprises representatives of different departments namely pathology, biology, nursing, security, waste management, he said.

The basic concept behind the exercise is to ensure that the hospital does not become a source of spreading infections among the patients suffering from minor diseases.

A few months back, Dr Yoshi, an expert in respiratory medicine from Japan, had visited Pims and had a close interaction with the hospital infection committee.

Referring to the precautions that should be adopted to contain infections, Dr Haq said the nursing staff or paramedics should not handle patients after treating infectious patients without properly washing their hands.

He said one of the responsibilities of the committee was to ensure that the hospital staff observed hygiene, should cover shoes before entering sensitive areas like intensive care units (ICU), operation theatres while surgical instruments should be sterilised and hospital waste like needles, sharps and syringes should be disposed of properly.

“Operating rooms and blood banks must not be the source of infections,” he observed, adding improper and half-hearted measures in these areas were directly responsible for high incidence of Hepatitis B and C in Pakistan.

Sometimes, doctors do not wash hands mainly because the hospital administration at times is least interested in providing adequate washbasins.

“Islam lays a great emphasis on the overall complete hygiene that includes hygiene of soul, mind, body, society and environment,” he said.

Citing an example from the Muslim history, he said Ar-Razi, the great Muslim founder doctor, was once asked by the then caliph to suggest a place for a new hospital. In response, he suggested that pieces of meat should be hanged at several places in the city and where the meet putrified last should be the place of the new hospital. Ar-Razi and Ibn-i-Sina were fully aware of the invisible micro bodies causing infections, he said.

The Pims infection committee is also vigilant about gathering information about new cases of infection which could have been acquired in the hospital or which could be a potential source of infection, he said.